


Our Bonds Bend, Not Break

by forestfairy72



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, F/M, Grover needs more love, It's there but very much in the background, focus here is on everyone's favourite satyr, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 10:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19332547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forestfairy72/pseuds/forestfairy72
Summary: When Percy Jackson was stolen away by Hera the empathy link between him and Grover was blocked. After regaining his memories this link was restored. This story explores how Grover was affected by the events of Heroes of Olympus and why he is going to smack his best friend the next time he sees him!





	Our Bonds Bend, Not Break

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first PJO fic (well at least the fist one I'm publishing). I wanted to create something about Grover because Rick really shafted him in Heroes of Olympus. I always wondered what he thought and felt after the empathy link was restored so I decided to write it! Critique is very welcome!

Percy had never been certain of the moment his and Grover’s empathy link had been restored. Hera’s interference had begun fading after the Gorgon blood incident in Portland but there had been so much going on, he had barely been able to keep track of what came back when in the time it took to return from Alaska.

For Grover it was like a light switch. For so long he, Annabeth and others from Camp Half-Blood had been searching for Percy. Grover had spent so much time and energy testing the empathy link it was almost a reflex. One moment he had been snoozing by the lake after practicing his pan flute, the next he felt a rush of exhilaration, the kind he was familiar with after completing a quest. He saw flashes of Percy – Percy chatting happily with a couple of teens, his arms around each of them, people cheering his name around about him. He looked well, albeit grimy, the way he usually did after battle.

Scrambling to his feet, Grover had rushed to the Bunker 9, knowing the team would all be there, making the last few preparations for the Argo II.

By all accounts the Argo II was almost ready for its maiden voyage. The crew had laboured over Leo’s childhood crayon drawing, it was almost unreal that the vessel was in front of them. The boat took up most of the gigantic secret bunker, somehow looking both impeccably designed and like something from the mind of an eight-year-old.

The gang were all on board the ship. Leo was muttering to himself as he pressed buttons on the control panel, Piper and Jason hovered over him with hopeful expressions. Annabeth was hanging back, she seemed more nervous than the others. When Grover burst through the door she darted up.  
“I- I feel him.” Grover panted, clearly out of breath from sprinting. “He- The empathy link. It’s back.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened. Her mind went a hundred miles a minute at any given time but now it felt doubled. It was one thing to be told that Percy was at the Roman camp, but it was another thing entirely to know this. If Grover felt him then he was alive.

He was alive!

The words that fell out of Annabeth’s mouth were almost incoherent, taking the others by surprise but Grover could make out something along the lines of “Thank the gods – is he okay, what is he feeling?”

 “Yeah, he’s good!” Grover smiled, “He is delighted, victorious even. Something really good has happened at the Roman camp.”

“What?” Jason piped up, “What’s happened at Camp Jupiter?”

“Sorry Jason, it’s not quite as nuanced as that. Through the empathy link we can sense how the other is feeling and if they are particularly strong, we see images. All I saw was Percy looking really happy, standing with a girl and a guy.”

“What did they look like?”

“Well the girl was short, maybe thirteen or fourteen? She had dark skin and really curly hair.”

“Hazel!” Jason smiled now. Since Hera had restored his memories this came easy for him. “Let me guess, the guy was really tall and broad but had a bit of a babyface situation?”

“Yes-“

“Frank and Hazel. Don’t worry Annabeth, if Percy has made friends with them, he is in good hands.”

But Annabeth’s moment of elation was past. She was now hovering over Leo urging him to hurry up. Grover bid a farewell, heading up to the Big House to pass the information on to Chiron.

 

What Grover hadn’t expected was Chiron’s reaction. Well that is not totally true. When he told the centaur that the link was back, and that Percy was safe the man’s reaction was a soft smile. That he was totally on board with. What he didn’t expect was the first words to come out of Chiron’s mouth to be

“You can’t go with them Grover.”

Grover instinctively recoiled. “What?”

“I know you want to bring Percy back, but you can’t go with Annabeth and the others.” Grover must have looked like Chiron had slapped him in the face because he continued, “You must not forget the responsibilities you have taken on, Grover. You are a member of the Council of Cloven Elders. You are Pan’s heir, Lord of the Wild. You cannot abandon those who rely on you for selfish reasons.”

“Selfish reasons!? Percy is a hero of Olympus! Surely part of my duty is to bring him back! This is my best friend we are talking about!”

“Which is exactly why it would be selfish.” Chiron sighed. “You remember Rachel’s prophecy.

 _Seven half-bloods will answer the call_  
_To storm or fire the world must fall_  
_An oath the keep with final breath_  
_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._

You aren’t a half-blood Grover. Seven is already so many to be going on a quest. If you go with them, you could jeopardise everything.” Chiron gestured to Grover to sit down, which he did.

In that moment he knew Chiron was right. Grover was going to have to sit this quest out. The thought of letting his friends put themselves into danger without him was a dark one. Grover had never claimed to be the bravest satyr out there, but he had been around Percy and Annabeth long enough to know that he could be useful to them.

“So what do you expect me to tell Annabeth?”

“Exactly what I have just told you. She will understand. Annabeth knows enough about duty.”

“How can I ever expect Percy to forgive me?” Grover looked at his hands, his hooves, anywhere but Chiron’s face.

“You share an empathy link, do you not? Percy will know how you feel about this situation.”

“That doesn’t mean he should forgive me for not being there for him. If the roles were reversed, you know he would be there in a heartbeat. Percy would do anything for his friends.”

“You are absolutely right,” Chiron poured himself some tea and lifted to pot to Grover, who shook his head. “About Percy’s loyalty. But we both know that same devotion has gotten him into trouble more than once. You will be reunited, don’t fret.” Chiron sighed again and looked at the satyr with a sad smile. “You are still so young Grover.”

“I’m not as young as I look!” he protested but Chiron just shook his head.

“I feel it would be best to retire now, tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

-

That night they met in the dream space shared by their empathy link. Percy was there first, sat on his bunk in Cabin 3. Grover leapt at his friend and embraced him tightly, well as tightly as he could in the dream world. Neither could feel the other’s touch but Percy appreciated the sentiment all the same.

“G-man!” Percy beamed.

“Percy! Dude, you’re alive!” Grover could hardly contain his excitement. “What on earth happened!?”

“To be honest with you bud I don’t think that we’ll have enough time for me to give you the full rundown. But I’m okay and I got the last of my memories back like 3 hours ago.”

Grover took a step back and looked at his friend. He was better rested than in the empathy flashes. Now, Grover could see that Percy had grown a little in the lost months. He was leaner but still had that troublemaker’s grin which would keep him looking eternally youthful.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Percy scratched the back of his neck, “I didn’t know what it was I was missing but as soon as the memories started trickling in I knew it was something special.” Grover felt the tears welling up in his eyes and let out a cough in an attempt to compose himself.

“Annabeth is on her way. She’s coming with a crew of new Half-Bloods. You’ll like them, they are all pretty cool. I, uh, I wanted to come. But Chiron- Chiron said I shouldn’t go. He reminded me that I have other responsibilities now.”

“I know,” Percy’s smile wavered a little, “I know man, but I will be back soon, and we can go get enchiladas. I’ll even let you eat my Diet Coke can!”

Before he could respond Percy was gone, he had woken up.

 

It was with a heavy heart that Grover bid the Half-Bloods farewell the next day. Annabeth hugged him tightly and whispered, “I’m bringing him back no matter what.” in Grover’s ear.

“I know you will.”

Grover, Chiron and many of the campers waved them off as the Argo II took to the sky. Out of the corner of his eye Grover could see Connor Stoll receiving a ten-dollar bill from an Ares camper who had clearly bet that the ship was going to fall out of the sky at launch. Grover had a bad feeling about this quest. He had an even stronger feeling that he should be on that boat, but who was he to mess with destiny? After a deep breath he shook his head. Things would be fine, Percy and Annabeth had defeated Kronos, this would be a cakewalk.

Grover wouldn’t feel the empathy link for another six days.

 

-

 

It was 1st July. The lake at Camp Half-Blood was bustling with people: nymphs were playing by the water side, clearly not reading the vibe as campers were practicing sparring – preparing for the invasion from Camp Jupiter. It had been Juniper’s suggestion that they come here to blow off some steam from the week’s stresses. There was nothing they could do from Long Island to help their friends on their quest, but they could help prepare the Camp and by practicing some calming magics.

That was what Grover was doing, playing his pan-flute when he was suddenly hit with an overwhelming anxiety. He clutched his chest, barely able to breathe. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

He was vaguely aware of Juniper waving her hand in front of his face. Then shaking him. She looked like she was shouting but he couldn’t make out what she was trying to say. Suddenly it was like a hazy filter had been put in front of his eyes. Everything looked grainy and all he could hear was aloud wind rushing in his ears. Until there was a quiet voice, a whisper of ‘I love you’ which he could have sworn was Annabeth, and then he blacked out.

 

When he woke it was two days later and he was in the medical bay.

The camp had received word that Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus.

To begin with Grover couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t eat. As soon as he did all he could do was spiral. All he could think was ‘Why didn’t I get on that boat!’. As if the only reason that his best friends had ended up in _literal hell_ was because he wasn’t there to stop it.

He knew they were alive.

Every so often he would have a feeling that wasn’t his own. A sudden coldness, pure misery creeping through from Tartarus. Snippets of Percy’s thoughts _Son of Poseidon dies from drowning_ , _Am I seriously going to drink from a lake of fire!?_ They weren’t comforting glimpses by any stretch of the imagination, but at least Grover knew they were alive.

They were alive and they were together, so they would find their way home.

Grover was broken from his train of thought by Chiron knocking at the door. He wheeled himself in without a word and looked sadly at the satyr.

“I wanted to wait until you had woken up. I have to- Someone has to tell Mrs Jackson and Mr Chase about what happened. I didn’t want to say anything until I had spoken to you, until we knew if they were alive or not. Obviously Nico told us that he couldn’t sense them being part of the dead but I just wanted to-“

“They’re alive.” Grover said flatly. “They are going through unspeakable torment, but they are alive.” Grover shook his head. “Classic Percy, falling into hell to save someone he loves. If he survives this this, I’m going to whack him something fierce.” But he couldn’t even muster faux anger. His eyes were too sad, faded to a moss colour rather than their usual forest green.

Chiron cleared his throat, “Percy Jackson is the bravest demi-god I have ever met. Annabeth Chase is the smartest. If anyone is going to make it back from Tartarus it’s the pair of them.”

“I know that,” Grover said almost sheepishly, then his voice took an edge, “But if they don’t, I’m not sure I will ever be able to forgive you for not letting me go.”

Chiron looked rather taken aback for a moment and then locked eyes with Grover. “No, I don’t suppose you will. But we both know things had to play out this way.”

Grover scoffed and broke their eye contact. He was about to say something that he would definitely regret but then there was a knock at the door. It was Connor Stoll and Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

The pair of them described how a message from Annabeth had appeared in the sacrificial fire. Now he had a way to help his friends and when he got them back, he would never let them do anything this stupid again. Grover held this thought as hard as he could until he was sure Percy could feel it all the way in Tartarus.

 

-

 

Naturally, Grover had volunteered to be Rachel’s protection on her mission to find Reyna in New Rome. If this was all he could contribute to Annabeth and Percy finding a way back it was the very least he could do. Grover could tell that Percy didn’t sleep very often in Tartarus. He never once saw him, but he always felt something in the back of his mind. There was an ongoing terror like a lingering smell from days old garbage.

Rachel wouldn’t ask him about it, but she would wince when she saw Grover tense up, white-knuckled out of nowhere. Or when he would suddenly gasp for air, feeling completely dehydrated while drinking water. The absolute worst came when they had arrived back to Camp Half-Blood, eighteen days after Percy and Annabeth had fallen. They had barely passed the space that had once been Thalia's tree, now home to the Golden Fleece when Grover had doubled over, certain that he was dying. He couldn’t even describe the pain he was in, and knowing that this was only a sliver of what Percy was feeling brought him to tears. It was then, for the first time ever, that he lost faith in his friends.

It was a gut reaction, that Grover hated himself for.

He couldn't give up on them, but how could Percy possibly fight through such suffering?

When he finally began to feel the pain subside- being replaced by Percy’s resolve to save himself and his love- Grover could hardly believe it.  He sat up and apologised to Rachel, who looked like she was about to be sick.

“They are going to be okay. I think they are going to be okay.”

 

-

 

When they finally met again it was after the battle with Gaia. Grover had been helping some Apollo campers carry wounded to the medical area. The battlefield was still fresh, so much blood had been needlessly spilled on both sides. It was hard to imagine the Greeks and Romans getting along after the horrors on the battlefield but here they were, helping one another as brethren.

Will Solace had rushed over to help Grover with a wounded camper. It was when Will took the boy’s other shoulder when Grover spotted Percy across the way. He made an apology and took off sprinting as fast as his goat legs could take him.

Percy looked up, cracked the biggest smile he had ever seen and opened his arms up to embrace his best friend. There were no words that seemed right so for a moment they stood in silence, enjoying the other’s company.

“Well,” Percy finally began, “I guess we have a lot to catch up on.”

“I guess we do.” Grover agreed.

“Enchiladas?”

“Enchiladas!”

With that the pair of them headed to the mess tent, each assured in that moment that no matter what happened, they would always be there.


End file.
